Braider carrier



J. SINGH Nov. 5, 1968 BRAIDER CARRIER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 23,1966 J. SINGH BRAIDER CARRIER Nov. 5, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 231966 J. SINGH 3,408,893

BRAIDER CARRIER Nov. 5, 1968 Filed May 23, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 5,1968 J. SINGH 3,408,893

' BRAIDER CARRIER Filed May 23, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 99 mo 95/0/ITIIIIIIIIIIIII 3,408,893 BRAIDER CARRIER Jagmohan Singh, Reading, Pa.,assignor to Textile Machine Works, Wyomissing, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed May 23, 1966, Ser. No. 552,332 13 Claims. (Cl. 87-21)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A braider carrier particularly for use in thereinforcement of high pressure hose and the like, the carrier havingasupport for a plurality of coils of individual wires which when drawnfrom the coils make up a braiding strand, and a rotatable control unitcarrying a wire clamping and tensioning device which serves to clamp thewires to draw them from the coils when the control unit is rotated inone direction and which serves, when the control unit is rotated in theopposite direction, to first provide an untensioned supply of the wiresand thereafter when said rotation reaches a given position to releasesaid clamping action and perform its tensioning function as the wiresare drawn therethrough by the braiding action.

The present invention relates to braiding machines of the type employedin the reinforcement of high pressure hose and the like with metallic orother strands and particularly to the strand carriers employed in suchmachines.

In the production of high pressure hose it is conventional to provideabraided covering of strands each composed of a number of parallel steelwires or other high strength filaments, hereinafter referred to as Wiresand each strand being supplied from an individual carrier. For optimumreinforcement, each of the wires making up a strand or band should beunder substantially equal tension and the strand supplied by eachcarrier should be under substantially the same tension as the strandssupplied by the other carriers.

Under prior practice the wires to be drawn from each carrier were woundon a single bobbin and the let-off tension was applied to the entireband of wires making up the braiding strand. Although attempts were madeto equalize the tension on the individual wires, due to geometry of thebraiding process and unavoidable errors in the winding of the bobbinsuch equalization was impossible of attainment with the result that abraid of poor quality was produced. In attempts to overcome the abovementioned difiiculties more recently carriers have been devised whichemployed an individual bobbin for each Wire and have means forcontrolling the let-off torque of each individual bobbin. However thesecarriers also have their disadvantages particularly due to the fact thatthe tension of the individual wires is still affected by imperfectionsin the winding of the bobbins. Also the tension is affected by theinertia forces involved, such forces being dependent on the amount ofwire present on each bobbin and changing with changes in speed ofrotation of the bobbins. Further the carriers employing a separatebobbin for each wire have, in the constructions heretofore employed,been of low wire carrying capacity making their use uneconomical. Italso should be noted that at least in many cases the single bobbincarrying all of the wires, if the tension problem can be solved, offerseconomies in braider operation as compared to the multiple bobbincarrier.

The principal object of the instant invention is the provision of abraider carrier which eliminates the problems inherent in the priorpractice and more particularly nited States Patent 3,408,893 PatentedNov. 5, 1968 an object is the provision of a braider carrier in whichthe individual wires making up each strand, whether they are coiled on asingle bobbin common to the several wires or on individual bobbins, arepreliminarily drawn from the bobbin to provide a supply of untensionedwires to make up a braiding strand and thereafter are drawn from suchuntensioned supply through tensioning means during the let-off period.As a result the length of each wire fed to the braiding point isdetermined solely by the demand of the braiding geometry and the tensionon each wire is determined solely by the tension device, neither theoriginal condition of the wires on the bobbin or bobbins, nor other suchfactors, in any way affecting the tension in the wires delivered to thebraiding point or the lengths so delivered.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a braider carrierattaining the foregoing objects comprising one or a series of supplybobbins mounted for relatively free rotation on a spindle and a controldevice adapted, at certain points of the travel of the carrier, towithdraw the wires making up the strand from the bobbin or bobbins toprovide an untensioned supply, and thereafter at another point in thetravel of the carrier to release the wires in strand form toward thebraiding point with each wire being under substantially uniform tension.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a controlunit for a braider carrier as referred to in the last previous objectcomprising a rotatable body, spring means resisting rotation of the bodyin one direction, wire tensioning and clamping means, and means forcausing the tensioning and clamping means to exert its clamping functionduring rotation of the body in said one direction to withdraw the wiresof the braiding strand from their bobbin or bobbins and to release thewires for movement under tension when the body is rotated in an oppositedirection to a given position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carrier capable ofuniform control of the tension of the individual Wires as mentionedabove but without sacrifice of wire carrying capacity and/ or the use ofmaximum strand tensions.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a carrieradapted for braiding at higher speeds than possible with theconventional type carriers.

The invention will be more fully understood and further objects andadvantages thereof will become apparent when reference is made to themore detailed description to follow and to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a portion of a braider deck illustratingcarriers embodying the instant invention employed therewith;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view on an enlarged scale of a braider carrierembodying the instant invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 looking inthe direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view generally taken longitudinally through thecarrier on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction indicated bythe arrows but with a control unit of the carrier rotated to a positionapproximately ninety degrees from its position of FIG. 2 for the purposeof more clearly illustrating certain parts;

FIG. 4a is a view similar to a portion of FIG. 4 illustrating a modifiedstructure;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 2looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 2looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 77 of FIG. 2looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 8 is a detailed elevational view on an enlarged scale of a portionof the carrier looking in the direction of the arrow 8 of FIG. 2;

. FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 99 of FIG. 8 looking inthe direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 10 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on theline 1010 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line 1111 of FIG. 8 looking inthe direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of a braider deckillustrating the operation of a carrier embodying the instant invention;and

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of a controlunit, embodied in the carrier of the instant invention, during thebraiding action.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown a portion of thedeck or raceway 10 of a braiding machine of the type employed in thecovering of high pressure hose and the like. The deck is provided withintersecting slots 11 and 12 of generally cycloidal shape defining theserpentine paths along which the braider carriers 14 travel, thecarriers being driven by conventional gearing (not shown). While in FIG.1 only two of the carriers are illustrated, traveling in the directionindicated by the arrow in one of the slots, it will be understood thatthere are, as is conventional, a succession of carriers in each slot thecarriers in the two slots traveling in opposite directions. Strands 15are drawn from the carriers and braided about a tubular core such as ahose 16 at a braiding point spaced from the center of the deck.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2 to 11 inclusive the braidercarriers 14, to which the present invention is specifically directed,each comprise the usual foot 17 rigidly fixed to a base plate 18.Secured to the base plate as by screws 20 is a bobbin container or can21. The function of container 21 is to provide a low clearance envelopearound the bobbin, where an individual bobbin for each wire is employed,so that any loose wire on the bobbin cannot interfere with otherbobbins, and where a single bobbin is employed, to provide a storagespace between the container wall and the bobbin for excess wire whichmay become accumulated during the braiding operation due either tononuniform lengths being laid during winding or to unequal demand forthe wires making up the strand during the braiding process.

The container or can 21 includes an end plate 22, a removable cap 23 andan outer cylindrical wall 24 fixed to the end plate 22. Cap 23 isprovided with an annular groove 25 receiving the upper edge ofcylindrical wall 24 with a slip fit. A key 26 engaged in aligned groovesin a lip of cap 23 and in wall 24 serves to prevent relative rotationbetween the cap and the wall. Wall 24 is provided with a vertical slotextending from adjacent the end plate 22 to the upper rim of thecylindrical wall for withdrawal of the wires 9 making up the strand. Asillustrated particularly in FIG. 6, overlying slot 30 is a thin metalplate 27 having one margin secured to the wall 24 and the other marginfree. Plate 27 carries a strip 28 of felt or the like on the surfacefacing wall 24, the plate and felt serving to exert a relatively lightrestraining force on the wires or other filaments as they are pulledthrough the slot. Wall 24 is also provided with diametrically opposedlongitudinally extending access slots 31.

. A wire guiding and assembling member 29 is seecured to wall 24suitably diametrically opposite slot 30 and approximately midway of theheight of container 21. Member 29 may take different forms but in theembodiment shown comprises a disc 34 contoured to fit flat against thewall and secured thereto and a plate 35 having one end secured to disc34 and its other end secured to a filler strip 36 which in turn is fixedto wall 24 (see FIGS. 2 and 6) whereby the plate is spaced from th wallto permit the several wires 9 to pass therebeneath against the curvedsurface of disc 34.

A hollow spindle 32 extends axially of the container 21 the spindlehaving a flange 33 at its lower end intcrfitting a slot 38 in end plate22. A pin 37 (see FIGS. 4 and 7) is inserted in aligned perforations inbase plate 18 and end plate 22 and in a groove formed in flange 33 to.secure the spindle against rotation'relative to the base plate andcontainer. 1

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 a series of bobbins 40 aremounted on the spindle for free rotation in the space between thespindle'and the wall 24 each bobbin being wound with one of the wires 9making -up a braiding strand 15. Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG.4a, a single elongated bobbin or spool 41 may be employed the bobbinbeing dividedinto compartments for the individual wires 9 by annularadjustably positioned dividers 42. The adaptability of the carrier ofthe instant invention to use the multiple wound single bobbin of FIG. 4agives it certain advantages over a carrier requiring thejmultiplebobbins of FIG. 4. Thus the winding of the wires or other filamentsthereon may be more economically and efiiciently accomplished.Furthermore the construction of FIG. 4a is readily susceptible toadjustment to accommodate different numbers of wires. For example wherefewer than the maximum number of compartments, into which the bobbin maybe divided by dividers 42, is required it is only necessary to place theexcess dividers 42, which are readily shiftable on the bobbin, at oneend or the other of the bobbin and employ the remainder to define therequired number of compartments each in such case having an increasedwire capacity. 7

A bracket 45 is secured to the outer wall of the container (FIGS. 2 to5) the bracket carrying guide pulleys 46 and 47 which receive thestrands of assembled wires or filaments from a control unit now to bedescribed and direct the strand through a guide eye 48 to the braidingpoint.

The control unit indicated generally at 50 see FIGS. 2 to 4 and 8 to 11)comprises a cylindrical body 51 mounted with a slip fit on the end of astub shaft 52 and secured thereon against upward axial movement by ascrew 53 having an enlarged head and threaded into the end portion ofthe stub shaft. Stub shaft 52 extends axially into the interior ofhollow spindle 32 and includes an enlarged lower end or hub 54 to whichis secured one end of a torsion spring 55. The lower end of the springis attached to a pin 56 projecting upwardly from base plate 18. A collar47 is mounted on stub shaft 52 beneath body 51 and is pinned thereto forrotation therewith by a plurality of pins 58 (see FIGS. 3, 4 and.10).Collar 57 is provided with a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposedslots 60 extending through the full thickness of the collar 57 andopening into the bore of the collar. The pairs of slots are adapted toselectively receive the projecting ends 61 of a locking pin 62 receivedin a radial bore in the stub shaft. Collar 57 is also provided with aradially extending bore 63 in which a pin 64 is mounted the pm having anend projecting beyond the collar into the space between the collar andan annular flange 67 of cap 23. A portion 65 of the Wall of the hollowspindle 32 pro ects into said space and defines a shoulder or stop 66for pin 64 thus limiting the rotation of collar 57 in a counterclockwisedirection as viewed in FIG. 10.

A threaded portion 70 is formed on stub shaft 52 below collar 57 thethreaded portion receiving ring .nut 71 threaded thereon. Also athreaded portion 72 is provided in a recessed portion 73 formed in theinterior wall of hollow spindle 32 directly opposite the threadedportion 70. A ring nut 74 is mounted on the threaded portion 72. Theupper surfaces of ring nuts 71 and 74 are preferably slightly belowcollar 57 to prevent rubbing. Ring nut 71 confines the inner races of anantifriction hearing such as ball bearings 75 between it and a flange 76on stub shaft 52 and similarly ring nut 74 confines the outer races ofthe bearing between it and the shoulder defining the lower end of recess73.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 8, 9 and 11 body 51 has a recess 78in the vertical wall thereof the recess accommodating tensioning andlocking means for the wires 9 the tensioning and locking means beingillustrated generally at 80. The tensioning and locking means comprisesa plurality of superposed plate members 81 having aligned perforationsadjacent their ends to loosely receive pins 82 and 83, the pins in turnbeing supported in flanges 84 and 85 defining the upper and lower wallsrespectively of the recess. A leaf spring 86 is interposed between eachpair of the plate members and when com pressed to a flattened form isreceived in a recess 102 in the plate member 81 below it. Each leafspring is perforated adjacent one end to receive pin 82 and is notchedadjacent the other to receive pin 83 with suflicient longitudinalclearance to permit the leaf spring to be pressed from a bowed to afully flattened state.

The lower flange 85 is perforated or cut away as at 103 to accommodate acompression spring 87 the upper end of which bears against the lower ofthe plate members and the lower end of which is received in a socket 88formed in a horizontal arm 92 of an L-shaped follower lever 89. Avertical arm 90 of the follower lever is pivotally mounted on a pin 91extending from flange 85. The horizontal arm 92 of the follower leverhas a forked end portion 93 rotatably supporting a follower roller 94adapted to ride on a track 95 formed in an outer flange 96 of cap 23.Track 95 includes a horizontal portion 97 suitably constituting theupper edge of the flange and a portion defined by a recess in theflange, said last mentioned portion including a downwardly inclinedsection 98 and a flat or horizontal section 99 terminating at a wall 100of the recessed portion. The junction 101 of horizontal portion 97 andinclined section 98 is suitably spaced approximately 230 degrees in aclockwise direction (FIG. or to the left (FIG. 8) from stop 66. Theforce exerted by spring 87, when the spring is held compressed by leverarm 89 with roller 94 riding on horizontal track portions 97 asillustrated in FIG. 8, is suflicient to overcome the combined pressureexerted by the leaf springs 86, whereby the leaf springs are reduced totheir flattened states at such time and forced into the recesses 102(see FIG. 11), and to urge the plate members into wire clampingrelationship.

A strand guide roll 105 is mounted for free rotation on a horizontal pin106 projecting from the base wall of an extension 107 of recess 78, theguide roll serving to receive wires 9 drawn from the bobbin or bobbinsand to direct them to tension device 80. Guide rollers 108 and 109 aremounted on vertical pins 110 and 111 respective- 1y,- the ends of thepins being carried by the upper and lower flanges 84 and 85respectively. Guide rollers 108 and 109 are so located as to deliverwires 9 between the superposed plate members in alignment with grooves112 extending longitudinally of the plates as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and11. The grooves 112 are each suitably of a width to receive a wiretherein but are of a depth substantially less than the diameter of thewire whereby when roller 94 is on a high portion of its cam track asillustrated in FIG. 8 the wires 9 are clamped against movementrelatively to the control means.

The operation of the carriers during the braiding action will behereinafter explained in more detail but from the above description ofthe various mechanisms it will be understood that torsion spring 55 whenloaded tends to rotate control unit 50 comprising body 51 and collar 57in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 toward stop 66 andto maintain roller 94 on the high portion 97 of its cam track with eachwire 9 clamped between two of the plate members of the tensioning andclamping means as described above. Once the clamping action has beeneffected continued rotation of the control unit under the influence ofthe spring will cause the wires 9 to be drawn from the bobbin or bobbinsin container 21. Upon reverse rotation of the control unit against thebias of spring 55, such reverse rotation taking place because of thetravel of the braider carrier and the demand for the strand as will behereinafter explained, the wires 9 previously drawn from the bobbin orbobbins provide an untensioned wire supply between the bobbin and thetensioning and clamping means. When the reverse rotation continues tothe point that roller 94 rides down inclined cam track portion 98sufliciently to relieve the pressure of spring 87 on plate members 81and permit the wires 9 to be pulled therebetween the wires are drawnfrom this untensioned supply. Hence at the time of let-otf the tensionin the wires is determined solely by the tensioning device 80.

The several braiding carriers are prepared for use in the braidingoperation as follows. Screw 53 is removed from the end of stub shaft 52and body 51 and cap 23 slipped upwardly off the shaft. A plurality ofindividual bobbins as illustrated in FIG. 4, or a single compartmentedbobbin as illustrated in FIG. 4a, are then slipped onto the hollowspindle 32 for free rotation thereon and the wires 9 of the individualbobbins or compartments are pulled out and inserted in slot 30 beneathplate 27. Cap 23 is then replaced and secured against rotation by key 26It will be assumed for the purpose of this discussion that the torsionspring 55 is in a relaxed state at this stage. To load the spring,collar 57 is slid upwardly on stub shaft 52 to raise notches 60 abovethe level of the pin 62. A tool of suitable type is applied to theextending end of the stub shaft, which may be perforated as at 113 toreceive a portion of the tool, and the stub shaft is turned in aclockwise direction, as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 10, to load the spring tothe desired value, the number of turns required having been empiricallypredetermined. With the stub shaft held against further rotation by thetool, collar 57 is adjusted to bring pin 64 into a predeterminedrelationship with shoulder 66 and is then slipped downwardly on the stubshaft into contact with the extending ends 61 of pin 62. The stub shaftis then given any additional slight rotation necessary to bring ends 61of pin 62 into alignment with the most adjacent pair of notches 60, thecollar then beingslipped downwardly to its final position. Collar 57 isallowed to turn under influence of spring 55 until pin 64 contactsshoulder 66 and then the tool is removed. Body 51 is then slipped ontothe end of the shaft and rotatably adjusted until pins 58 are in linewith their associated openings in collar 57. Suitably pins 58 areunequally spaced to insure that body 51 will be correctly positioned oncollar 57. With the pins 58 in alignment with their openings body 51 isslid downwardly substantially to its final position.

The wires 9 which, as previously mentioned, have been drawn out throughslot 30 are thereaded through wire guiding and assembling member 29 andthen carried around the cylindrical wall 24 to guide roll and aroundroller 109. Each individual wire 9 is then placed between a pair of theplates 81 to lie in the groove 112. The placing of the wires is suitablyperformed before body 51 is completely lowered to its operative positionand in consequence the force of spring 87 is sufficiently relieved thatleaf springs 86 force the plates apart for easy positioning of thewires. The wires 9 are then drawn around roller 108 and from thence theassembled strand of wires is guided around rollers 46 and 47 and ledthrough thread guide 48. Body 51 is then moved to its fully downposition and screw 53 screwed into the end of stub shaft 52. With eachof the carriers similarly prepared the strands from the several carriersare drawn to the braiding point where they are secured to the hose orother core and the braiding operation is then begun.

Reference will now be made particularly to FIGS. 12

and 13 the former diagrammatically indicating a portion of theserpentine path of one of the braider carriers of the instant inventiontraveling in a generally clockwise direction around braiding point 122,and the latter illustrating various positions of the clamping andtensioning member 80 relatively to certain fixed points on the carrierat different stages in the travel of the carrier. It will be understoodthat the actual positions of the clamping and tensioning member 80 atthe different stages will vary depending upon the diameter of the hose,the character of the carrier path and other fatcors, the followingexplanation being however typical of the operation of the carrier. Itwill also be assumed that the carrier has been installed in its racewayat the location 121 FIG. 12) and that upon attachment of the braidingstrand to the hose, roller 94 of the clamping and tensioning device ison the high level of its cam track adjacent the junction 101 of thehorizontal and inclined portions (see FIG. 13).

Upon start-up the carrier travels in the direction indicated by thearrow (FIG. 12), i.e. approaching the braiding point 122, until itreaches point 123. During the movement of the carrier between points 120and 123 torsion spring 55 causes the control unit to rotate in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 13 to maintain tension onthe braiding strand. Inasmuch as the roller 94 is on the high level 97of its cam track, plates 81 are in clamping relationship with the wires9 preventing slipping between the wires and clamping plates.

Continued movement of the roller along the track, and

following the take-up of any slack in the wires between the bobbins andthe control unit, causes lengths of the wires to be drawn from theirbobbins this occurring upon rotation of the tensioning and locking means80 in a counterclockwise direction from say point 130 to point 124 (FIG.13) and movement of the carrier from say point 121 to point 123 (FIG.12).

As the carrier continues its movement from the point 123 (FIG. 12), andnow generally away from the braiding point, the demand for the braidingstrand causes the control unit to be rotated against the bias of torsionspring 55 or in a clockwise direction away from point 124, roller 94finally reaching junction 101 and starting down the inclined portion 98.During this rotation of the control unit slack is created in the wiresbetween the control unit and the bobbins. At this time the carrier hasreached approximately the point 125 (FIG. 12) of its serpentine path.The demand for the braiding strand continuing, the roller rides downinclined track portion 98 say to the point 129 (FIG. 13) where the forceof spring 87 is sufficiently reduced to release the clamping action ofplates 81 on the wires 9 the control unit then remaining substantiallystationary and the wires being drawn between the plates under thecontrolled tension exerted by the plates under the force of spring 87 tolet off or feed additional lengths of the wires to the braidingoperation, this situation continuing until the carrier has reached thepoint 126. As will be understood the wires are supplied during thislet-off period entirely from the supply previously drawn from thebobbins and which, due to the rotation of unit 80 from point 124 to andbeyond junction 101 is now slack as mentioned above and entirely tensionfree.

As the carrier moves from point 126 again generally toward the braidingpoint the bias of torsion spring 55 causes rotation of the control unitin a counterclockwise direction toward point 124 (FIG. 13) roller 94riding onto and then continuing on the high portion 97 of its cam trackwhereby the clamping and tensioning device again asserts and maintainsits clamping action on the wires 9. As soon as the tensioning andlocking means 80 has rotated in a counterclockwise direction to take upany slack and tension the wires extending between it and the bobbin,that is when the carrier has reached say point 128 (FIG. 12) and thetensioning and locking means is at the point 8 130 (FIG. 13), thetake-01f of wire from the bobbin will occur as before the take-offcontinuing until the carrier reaches approximately the point 127. In themeantime the tensioning and locking means has rotated to approximatelypoint 124 (FIG. 13).

The above described operations of the carrier as it travels betweenpoint 123 and 127 (FIG. 12) will be repeated for each correspondingportion of the serpentine path of the carrier.

The torsion springs of the carriers will of course be adjusted to thesame degree and hence each of the carriers will operate in exactly thesame manner as the others. The wires making up the braiding strand ofeach carrier, when released toward the braiding point upon let-oft, willbe under only that tension exerted by the plates 81 and spring 87 of thetensioning device. Hence both the tensions under which they aredelivered to the braiding point and the lengths delivered areuninfluenced by any irregularities which may be present in the windingson the single bobbin or multiple bobbins, as the case may be, or byother bobbin conditions.

Having thus described the invention in rather complete detail it will beunderstood that these details need not be strictly adhered to, and thatvarious changes and modifications may be made all falling within thescope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a braider carrier, means supporting a plurality of coils ofindividual wires which, when drawn from said coils, are adapted tocollectively comprise a braiding strand, means for withdrawing wirelengths from said coils and for forming an untensioned supply thereof,and means providing for withdrawal of said wires under controlledtension from said untensioned supply.

2. A braider carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein said means forwithdrawing wire lengths from said coils comprises a control unitrotatable in one direction to perform said wire withdrawing function,said unit comprising means for clamping said wires during rotation insaid one direction.

3. A braider carrier as defined in claim 2 wherein said means forproviding for withdrawal of said wires from said untensioned supplycomprises means to release the clamping action of said clamping meanswhen said control unit is rotated to a given point in a directionopposite to said one direction.

4. A braider carrier as defined in claim 3 wherein said means forclamping said wires comprises a stack of plate members between pairs ofwhich individual ones of said wires are positioned and there is meansurging said plate members toward clamping relationship with said wires.

5. A braider carrier as defined in claim 4 wherein said means for urgingsaid plate members toward clamping relationship with said wirescomprises spring means and said means to release the clamping action ofsaid clamping means comprises means for reducing the pressure of saidspring means on said plate members.

6. A braider carrier as defined in claim 2 wherein there is yieldablemeans urging rotation of said control unit in said one direction.

7. A braicler carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein said means forsupporting a plurality of coils of wires comprises a spindle concentricwith said coils and there is means separating the coils from each other.

8. A braider carrier as defined in claim 7 wherein said means forseparating said coils from each other comprises a flanged spool for eachcoil.

9. A braider carrier as defined in claim 7 wherein said means forseparating said coils from each other comprises annular dividersshiftable axially of said spindle to define coil receiving compartments.

10. A braider carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein said meanssupporting a plurality of coils of individual wires comprises a spindleand a coil receiving container.

11. In a braider carrier, means for supporting a plurality of coils ofindividual wires which, when drawn from said coils are adapted tocollectively comprise a braiding strand, a control unit, meanssupporting said control unit for rotation, yieldable means urging saidcontrol unit to rotate in one direction, a device carried -by saidcontrol unit for rotation therewith and adjustable to at times clampsaid wires against movement relatively thereto and at other times topermit movement of said wires under controlled tension, means to adjustsaid device to clamp said wires during rotation of said unit in said onedirection and withdraw lengths of wires from said coils, and means toadjust said device to permit said wires to move under controlled tensionwhen said control unit is rotated to a given position in a directionopposite to said one direction.

12. A braider carrier as defined in claim 11 wherein said devicecomprises a stack of plate members between pairs of which said wires arepositioned and spring means urging said plate members toward wiretensioning and clamping relationship.

13. A braider carrier as defined in claim 12 including a 0 cam trackcomprising a high portion and an upwardly inclined portion leading toand from said high portion, and a follower means for said cam track saidfollower means being adapted to load said spring means to maintain saidplate members in Wire clamping relationship when said follower means ison the high portion of said cam track and to relieve the load on saidspring to permit the wires to move relatively to said plates when saidfollower means is at a point on the inclined portion of said cam track.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,337,977 12/ 1943 Davis 87212,831,390 4/1958 Leimbach 87-61 2,911,875 11/1959 Ostermann et a1. 87-213,109,605 11/ 1963 Ostermann 87-21 XR 3,168,995 2/1965 Ostermann 8721 XRJOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner.

